Employment to population ratios of persons 16 to 64 years old, by age group and educational attainment: Selected years, 1975 through 2012

[Standard errors appear in parentheses]

Age group and educational attainment

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16 to 19 years old, all education

levels1

---

(†)

---

(†)

---

(†)

60.8

(2.03)

58.0

(2.13)

62.6

(2.09)

53.7

(1.40)

56.1

(1.21)

56.7

(1.25)

53.5

(1.41)

46.6

(1.36)

43.2

(1.30)

44.8

(1.40)

45.8

(1.43)

Less than high school completion

---

(†)

---

(†)

---

(†)

44.2

(3.08)

44.0

(3.13)

52.2

(3.19)

39.4

(2.01)

43.6

(1.87)

42.7

(1.90)

37.5

(1.90)

31.1

(1.89)

29.4

(1.83)

31.1

(2.21)

28.5

(2.05)

High school completion2

---

(†)

---

(†)

---

(†)

74.2

(2.54)

70.1

(2.99)

70.1

(2.92)

65.0

(2.04)

66.2

(1.78)

67.2

(1.95)

64.3

(1.96)

53.6

(1.72)

51.1

(1.84)

50.3

(2.01)

53.6

(1.90)

At least some college

---

(†)

---

(†)

---

(†)

76.8

(9.32)

71.6

(6.38)

78.2

(6.22)

66.6

(4.54)

63.4

(4.21)

71.9

(3.95)

65.3

(3.89)

65.4

(3.70)

57.5

(3.99)

61.5

(3.63)

64.3

(4.07)

20 to 24 years old, all education

levels1

---

(†)

---

(†)

---

(†)

75.6

(0.90)

73.7

(0.93)

77.4

(0.93)

73.2

(0.66)

74.4

(0.61)

74.9

(0.53)

73.4

(0.60)

68.3

(0.66)

65.5

(0.72)

67.0

(0.59)

68.7

(0.67)

Less than high school completion

---

(†)

---

(†)

---

(†)

54.4

(2.29)

52.7

(2.41)

60.8

(2.43)

55.7

(1.27)

58.8

(1.51)

57.9

(1.37)

55.1

(1.73)

50.6

(1.60)

44.4

(1.58)

46.8

(1.71)

47.7

(1.95)

High school completion2

---

(†)

---

(†)

---

(†)

76.6

(1.26)

72.2

(1.46)

76.5

(1.46)

72.3

(0.91)

72.4

(0.86)

72.3

(0.89)

69.8

(0.97)

63.9

(1.03)

61.5

(1.01)

62.9

(1.07)

64.2

(0.99)

Some college, no bachelor's degree3

---

(†)

---

(†)

---

(†)

85.6

(1.69)

83.6

(1.52)

86.6

(1.49)

80.3

(1.19)

81.3

(0.98)

82.1

(0.94)

81.8

(1.09)

74.9

(1.32)

72.9

(1.27)

73.2

(1.01)

75.3

(1.19)

Bachelor's or higher degree

---

(†)

---

(†)

---

(†)

93.3

(1.57)

90.9

(1.76)

87.8

(2.07)

89.3

(1.16)

89.0

(1.22)

92.3

(1.05)

89.6

(1.21)

87.2

(1.26)

86.5

(1.37)

85.2

(1.41)

87.3

(1.16)

25 to 64 years old, all education

levels

65.8

(0.33)

70.2

(0.30)

71.6

(0.30)

75.0

(0.29)

75.5

(0.28)

77.7

(0.27)

75.0

(0.19)

75.5

(0.18)

76.0

(0.17)

75.5

(0.16)

72.2

(0.19)

71.5

(0.19)

71.2

(0.19)

71.7

(0.18)

Less than high school completion

55.3

(0.62)

55.5

(0.66)

53.1

(0.74)

54.9

(0.80)

53.8

(0.85)

57.8

(0.91)

57.2

(0.51)

58.0

(0.53)

58.3

(0.58)

56.2

(0.51)

52.5

(0.57)

52.1

(0.60)

51.1

(0.56)

52.9

(0.60)

High school completion2

65.7

(0.53)

70.4

(0.48)

70.7

(0.48)

74.4

(0.46)

73.3

(0.49)

75.5

(0.49)

71.5

(0.34)

72.3

(0.32)

72.7

(0.32)

71.6

(0.28)

67.8

(0.33)

67.0

(0.36)

66.2

(0.39)

66.5

(0.35)

Some college, no bachelor's degree3

71.7

(0.86)

76.1

(0.70)

77.8

(0.66)

80.2

(0.60)

79.5

(0.51)

80.7

(0.50)

77.7

(0.33)

77.8

(0.31)

78.1

(0.29)

77.5

(0.31)

73.9

(0.33)

72.7

(0.30)

72.2

(0.30)

72.2

(0.30)

Bachelor's or higher degree

82.5

(0.68)

84.5

(0.55)

85.6

(0.51)

86.7

(0.47)

86.5

(0.44)

86.4

(0.42)

83.7

(0.26)

83.9

(0.23)

84.3

(0.24)

84.4

(0.27)

82.2

(0.25)

81.6

(0.24)

81.5

(0.26)

82.1

(0.24)

25 to 34 years old, all education

levels

67.7

(0.59)

74.5

(0.49)

76.2

(0.48)

78.6

(0.47)

78.5

(0.48)

81.6

(0.49)

76.8

(0.31)

77.9

(0.32)

78.9

(0.31)

78.1

(0.31)

74.2

(0.36)

73.2

(0.34)

73.0

(0.35)

73.8

(0.31)

Less than high school completion

52.9

(1.43)

58.3

(1.46)

57.0

(1.54)

60.3

(1.50)

59.8

(1.59)

64.1

(1.76)

62.0

(0.95)

63.2

(0.91)

63.7

(0.97)

60.4

(0.93)

54.6

(1.07)

55.1

(0.95)

54.2

(1.17)

56.2

(1.14)

High school completion2

65.5

(0.92)

72.0

(0.81)

74.3

(0.78)

77.7

(0.74)

77.0

(0.84)

80.2

(0.91)

73.1

(0.60)

75.6

(0.63)

76.4

(0.57)

74.0

(0.60)

69.0

(0.66)

68.1

(0.72)

67.9

(0.67)

68.7

(0.75)

Some college, no bachelor's degree3

71.7

(1.33)

77.8

(1.01)

80.1

(0.97)

81.6

(0.96)

80.5

(0.87)

82.8

(0.90)

79.4

(0.54)

78.9

(0.60)

80.1

(0.54)

79.9

(0.52)

75.9

(0.60)

72.9

(0.57)

73.0

(0.62)

72.7

(0.68)

Bachelor's or higher degree

82.0

(1.04)

85.4

(0.82)

86.6

(0.79)

88.1

(0.76)

88.1

(0.75)

89.0

(0.73)

84.4

(0.52)

85.6

(0.48)

86.5

(0.47)

86.8

(0.46)

84.5

(0.49)

84.0

(0.49)

83.4

(0.45)

84.3

(0.45)

35 to 44 years old, all education

levels

70.3

(0.66)

76.5

(0.58)

78.1

(0.54)

81.6

(0.48)

80.2

(0.46)

81.8

(0.45)

79.9

(0.26)

80.0

(0.29)

80.7

(0.26)

80.1

(0.30)

76.7

(0.29)

76.0

(0.30)

76.0

(0.35)

76.9

(0.35)

Less than high school completion

61.4

(1.31)

63.4

(1.39)

60.0

(1.58)

62.5

(1.69)

58.6

(1.66)

64.8

(1.64)

64.9

(0.93)

64.3

(0.97)

65.0

(1.00)

64.3

(1.05)

60.2

(1.01)

58.2

(1.13)

57.5

(1.04)

59.6

(1.13)

High school completion2

69.6

(1.02)

76.6

(0.90)

76.6

(0.88)

80.0

(0.80)

78.6

(0.82)

81.0

(0.79)

78.0

(0.52)

77.9

(0.52)

78.6

(0.50)

76.9

(0.57)

72.6

(0.63)

72.4

(0.64)

71.8

(0.64)

72.1

(0.68)

Some college, no bachelor's degree3

74.5

(1.74)

80.9

(1.33)

81.6

(1.15)

85.0

(0.93)

83.3

(0.81)

84.4

(0.80)

82.0

(0.48)

81.8

(0.52)

83.6

(0.50)

82.4

(0.58)

78.5

(0.53)

76.9

(0.53)

76.9

(0.62)

78.2

(0.61)

Bachelor's or higher degree

84.5

(1.31)

87.1

(1.00)

88.8

(0.80)

89.5

(0.72)

88.5

(0.71)

87.6

(0.74)

85.9

(0.41)

86.4

(0.38)

86.0

(0.40)

86.4

(0.40)

84.8

(0.42)

84.7

(0.39)

84.8

(0.43)

85.0

(0.41)

45 to 54 years old, all education

levels

68.4

(0.65)

71.7

(0.65)

73.5

(0.67)

77.6

(0.62)

78.8

(0.55)

81.2

(0.50)

78.4

(0.32)

78.8

(0.32)

78.9

(0.33)

78.4

(0.33)

75.2

(0.34)

74.7

(0.35)

74.3

(0.32)

74.6

(0.30)

Less than high school completion

59.8

(1.14)

61.8

(1.24)

58.7

(1.52)

60.7

(1.63)

58.4

(1.79)

60.3

(1.89)

59.0

(1.04)

59.0

(1.11)

58.5

(1.05)

56.0

(1.02)

54.0

(1.13)

52.5

(1.05)

51.7

(0.84)

54.7

(1.06)

High school completion2

68.8

(1.03)

72.0

(1.02)

74.0

(1.03)

77.5

(0.97)

75.9

(1.01)

78.2

(0.95)

75.1

(0.64)

75.8

(0.62)

76.2

(0.58)

75.4

(0.57)

71.6

(0.53)

71.0

(0.65)

70.1

(0.58)

70.4

(0.62)

Some college, no bachelor's degree3

74.7

(1.81)

76.5

(1.72)

79.2

(1.63)

81.9

(1.38)

81.7

(1.03)

83.4

(0.91)

80.4

(0.57)

81.5

(0.53)

81.0

(0.58)

80.2

(0.51)

77.3

(0.58)

77.3

(0.54)

76.6

(0.53)

76.2

(0.53)

Bachelor's or higher degree

87.1

(1.36)

87.3

(1.21)

87.9

(1.16)

89.4

(0.97)

89.5

(0.78)

89.7

(0.71)

87.5

(0.45)

87.3

(0.42)

87.7

(0.42)

88.1

(0.45)

85.2

(0.45)

84.4

(0.45)

84.9

(0.45)

84.7

(0.48)

55 to 64 years old, all education

levels

54.6

(0.77)

54.1

(0.73)

52.1

(0.77)

53.4

(0.81)

55.0

(0.82)

58.1

(0.79)

60.8

(0.48)

61.9

(0.43)

62.2

(0.46)

62.8

(0.41)

60.8

(0.42)

60.6

(0.41)

60.2

(0.43)

60.6

(0.41)

Less than high school completion

48.5

(1.11)

43.2

(1.16)

41.8

(1.29)

39.5

(1.46)

38.1

(1.67)

40.4

(1.84)

39.4

(1.13)

41.5

(1.17)

43.3

(1.19)

41.0

(1.24)

38.2

(1.19)

40.0

(1.19)

39.4

(1.15)

39.1

(1.08)

High school completion2

56.5

(1.32)

57.5

(1.19)

52.1

(1.22)

54.0

(1.29)

53.7

(1.34)

55.4

(1.34)

55.3

(0.79)

56.6

(0.71)

55.9

(0.85)

57.8

(0.69)

55.8

(0.73)

55.1

(0.71)

54.4

(0.81)

54.6

(0.75)

Some college, no bachelor's degree3

62.6

(2.48)

62.5

(2.08)

58.9

(2.21)

60.4

(2.12)

62.0

(1.74)

62.4

(1.64)

64.8

(0.90)

65.3

(0.83)

64.6

(0.73)

64.8

(0.80)

61.6

(0.74)

61.8

(0.76)

61.2

(0.78)

61.2

(0.70)

Bachelor's or higher degree

72.6

(2.34)

71.9

(1.96)

71.3

(1.83)

70.5

(1.79)

70.0

(1.72)

71.9

(1.49)

73.5

(0.74)

73.4

(0.75)

74.5

(0.75)

74.0

(0.68)

72.7

(0.63)

72.0

(0.65)

71.8

(0.71)

73.1

(0.66)

---Not available.

†Not applicable.

1 Data for 16- to 19-year-olds and 20- to 24-year-olds exclude persons enrolled in school.

2 Includes equivalency credentials, such as the General Educational Development (GED) credential.

3 Includes persons with no college degree as well as those with an associate's degree.

NOTE: The employment to population ratio is the number of persons employed as a percentage of the civilian population.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, unpublished annual average data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), selected years, 1975 through 2012. (This table was prepared October 2012.)